1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid crystal displays, and in particular to a liquid crystal display having a housing with a through hole for providing access for an external wiring connection.
2. General Background
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are one of the most popular flat displays because of their thin profile and low power consumption. In order to achieve the thin profile requirements of products such as notebook computers, conventional LCD modules utilized in notebook computers are generally assembled by side fastening means. This further reduces the thickness of the LCD.
FIG. 5 is an exploded, isometric view of a conventional LCD 10. The LCD 10 includes a backlight module 11, an LCD panel 12, and a housing assembly. The housing assembly includes a front housing 18 and a rear housing 16. The rear housing 18 has first sidewalls 181 with a plurality of lugs 183, and the front housing 16 has second sidewalls 161 with a plurality of lug holes 163 corresponding to the lugs 183.
FIG. 6 shows the LCD 10 fully assembled. In FIGS. 5 and 6, a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 14 is provided. The FPCB 14 is electrically connected to the LCD panel 12. When assembling the LCD 10, the backlight module 11 and the LCD panel 12 are sequentially disposed onto the enclosed area of the rear housing 18, and the FPCB 14 extends out of the enclosed area. Next, the front housing 16 is attached to the rear housing 18, thereby receiving and securing the LCD panel 12 and the backlight module 11 inside a housing assembly. The FPCB 14 extends outward between the first sidewall 181 of the rear housing 18 and the second sidewall 161 of the front housing 16, for signal communication with another control board (not shown) of the LCD 10.
FIG. 7 shows a partial cross-section of the LCD 10. It can be seen that there is a gap larger than the thickness of the FPCB 14 between the first sidewall 181 of the rear housing 18 and the second sidewall 161 of the front housing 16, to protect the FPCB 14 from being folded or damaged. This arrangement, however, means that the lugs 183 of the first sidewall 181 and the lug holes 163 of the second sidewall 161 do not necessarily match precisely. That is, the rear housing 16 may shift slightly in a horizontal direction, and the LCD panel 12 and the backlight module 11 may not be firmly secured in the housing assembly.
FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of another conventional LCD 20. The differences between the LCD 20 and the above-described LCD 10 are that in the LCD 20, a second sidewall 261 of a front housing 26 has a notch 262. As seen, the notch 262 is higher than a first sidewall 281 of a rear housing 28 by a predetermined distance D1, thereby forming an opening when the front housing 26 is attached on the rear housing 28. An FPCB 24 connected to an LCD panel 22 for external signal communication is directly extended out of this housing assembly through the notch 262. Therefore, there is no need for a gap between the rear housing 28 and the front housing 26, and the rear housing 28 and the front housing 26 can be firmly engaged with each other.
According to the above structure, the notch 262 of the front housing 26 must be higher than the first sidewall 281 of the rear housing 28. This means the notch 262 may be unduly large and reduce the mechanical strength of the front housing 26. Further, the front housing 26 is liable to be deformed during fabrication or assembly. Hence, there is a need a housing assembly for an LCD which overcomes these problems.